Help & support
Super funds must cancel insurance on inactive accounts.
If you haven’t received a contribution or rollover into your super account for 16 consecutive months or more, your insurance will be cancelled, unless you request to keep it.
If you have not submitted an election to keep your insurance cover, we will write to you if you reach 9, 12 and 15 consecutive months of inactivity, to notify you of the options available to you.
If your account has been inactive for 16 months and has a balance of less than $6,000, it could be transferred to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
Impacted accounts will be transferred in April and October each year.
If your super account has a balance under $6,000, fees1 will be capped at 3% p.a. Furthermore exit fees2 have been banned altogether.
You’ll automatically receive a refund of any fees over the 3% p.a. fee cap. We’ll assess your Essential Super account at 30 June each year, or when you leave the fund.
Super funds will cancel insurance on low-balance accounts
If your account balance was below and never exceeded $6,000 between 1 November 2019 and 20 April 2020, your insurance was cancelled unless you requested to keep it.
Insurance was cancelled on 21 April 2020.
How to keep your insurance cover with Essential Super
No Insurance cover will be automatically provided to new members under age of 25 or under $6,000 account balance.
From 1 April 2020, super funds won’t automatically provide insurance to new members if they’re under age 25 or have an account balance under $6,000.
This will mean if you are either under 25 or have less than $6,000 and you want cover, you will need to opt-in to obtain insurance cover.
From 1 November 2021, you will no longer need to provide your new employer a Super Choice form to let them know where you want your employer superannuation contributions to be paid. It is your new employer’s obligation to check whether you have an active superannuation fund linked to your TFN and ensure that they pay employer contributions to this active fund.
If you are currently receiving your employer contributions elsewhere, you can still use the Super Choice form to request your employer to change where they are make employer contributions to Essential Super. Simply log onto the CommBank app or NetBank > select Essential Super > Share your details
On 31 August 2021, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) released the results for the first annual performance test on MySuper products, including Essential Super’s MySuper Lifestage investment options.
The performance test assesses all MySuper products’ performance against a new benchmark over the past seven years as well as administration fees for the financial year ending 30 June 2021.
For Essential Super, the benchmark for the test blends performance across Essential Super’s different MySuper Lifestage investment options, which means that the return for a member’s specific Lifestage investment option could be different to the return used in the performance test.
To help you understand how these changes may affect you, read our Frequently Asked Questions.
From 1 April 2020, if you’re under age 25 or have a balance less than $6,000 you will not receive insurance cover automatically. You can choose to opt-in for insurance cover within 120 days of your account being funded. You will receive a letter once your account is funded which details the insurance available through Essential Super and instructions to opt-in to get insurance cover.
If you don’t opt-in for insurance cover within 120 days, you can still apply for insurance cover via NetBank but you will have to go through the underwriting process.
To apply, simply log on to NetBank and select your Essential Super account > Insurance > Add, change or cancel your insurance, choose the insurance cover you wish to apply for and click submit. We will notify you with confirmation if your application is successful or not.
Otherwise, you won’t automatically receive insurance cover until you are 25 years old and you have a super balance of $6,000 or more.
It's important to note that insurance premiums will be deducted from your account which will reduce your super balance.
If your account is inactive and you decide to keep your insurance with Essential Super, you’ll need to let us know before the end of your 16 month period of inactivity, this date will also be included in your inactivity notice. You can let us know by either:
If your account was inactive for 16 months and you elected to keep your insurance between 1 November 2019 and 1 April 2020, insurance would not have been cancelled due to account inactivity or having a low balance of less than $6,000.
You would’ve received received a letter from us in April 2020 to confirm this.
Yes. If your insurance is cancelled by us due to PYS/PMIF, and you decide that you want to keep it, you'll have 90 days from the date your cover is cancelled to reinstate your cover. Cover can only be reinstated if there is enough money in your account to pay premiums from the date your cover was cancelled.
You can reinstate your insurance by completing the Insurance Reinstatement Form and mailing it to Essential Super, Reply Paid 86495, Sydney NSW 2001. Alternatively, you can upload a scanned copy of the completed form via NetBank (simply log on to NetBank and select your Essential Super account > Insurance > e-post a request or upload scanned form).
It's important to note that insurance premiums will be deducted from your account which will reduce your super balance.
To apply, simply log on to NetBank and select your Essential Super account > Insurance > Add, change or cancel your insurance, choose you’re the insurance cover you wish to apply for and click submit. We will notify you with confirmation if your application is successful or not.
If you wish to cancel or amend your cover through Essential Super you can at any time by logging on through NetBank > Essential Super > Insurance > Add, change or cancel your insurance.
Simply log on to NetBank and select your Essential Super account > Insurance > Add, change or cancel your insurance, choose the insurance cover you wish to apply for and click submit. We will notify you with confirmation if your application is successful or not.
Your super account could be considered an ‘inactive low-balance account’ if:
To check your current Essential Super account balance, simply log into NetBank or the CommBank app.
We’ll assess potential inactive low-balance accounts twice a year as at 30 June and 31 December. Unless you tell us not to, we’ll transfer these accounts to the ATO in April and October each year.
You won’t be charged any fees on your Essential Super account once it has been closed and transferred to the ATO.
If you’d like to keep your Essential Super account, you’ll need to make sure it’s no longer considered an ‘inactive low-balance account’.
To do this, you can:
You can also opt out of the transfer by completing an Inactive low-balance account declaration form before the end of your 16 month period of inactivity. Please mail the completed form to Essential Super, Reply Paid 86495, Sydney NSW 2001. Alternatively you can upload a scanned copy of the completed form via NetBank (simply log on to NetBank and select your Essential Super account > Insurance > e-post a request or upload scanned form).
If your super is transferred to the ATO, the ATO will look to consolidate your money to an active super account, if you have one. The ATO will process this transfer within 28 days of identifying your active super account and will write to you to confirm your super balance and the fund it has been paid to.
If you do not have another active super fund account you will need to contact the ATO.
You can view your investment performance by:
1 Fees include administration fee, investment fee and indirect cost ratio.
Avanteos Investments Limited ABN 20 096 259 979, AFSL 245531 (referred to as Colonial First State, CFS, ‘we’, ‘us’ or ‘our’) is the Trustee of Essential Super ABN 56 601 925 435 and the issuer of interests in Essential Super. Essential Super is distributed by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia ABN 48 123 123 124, AFSL 234945 (the Bank). The CFS Group consists of Superannuation and Investments HoldCo Pty Limited ABN 64 644 660 882 (HoldCo) and its subsidiaries, which includes CFS. The Bank holds an interest in the CFS Group through its significant minority interest in HoldCo.
This information is issued by CFS and may include general financial product advice but does not consider your individual objectives, financial situation, needs or tax circumstances, and so you should consider the appropriateness of the advice having regard to your circumstances before acting on it. The Target Market Determination (TMD) for Essential Super can be found at cfs.com.au/tmd and includes a description of who the financial product is appropriate for and any conditions on how the product can be distributed to customers. You should read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and the Reference Guides for Essential Super carefully and consider whether the information is appropriate for you before making any decision regarding this product. Download the PDS and Reference Guides at commbank.com.au/essentialsuper-documents or call us on 13 4074 for a copy.
None of the Bank, HoldCo, CFS, nor any of their respective subsidiaries guarantee the performance of Essential Super or the repayment of capital by Essential Super. An investment in this product is subject to risk, loss of income and capital invested. An investment in Essential Super is via a superannuation trust and is therefore not an investment in, deposit with or other liability of the Bank or its subsidiaries.
The insurance provider is AIA Australia Limited ABN 79 004 837 861, AFSL 230043 (AIA Australia). AIA Australia is not part of the Commonwealth Bank Group or CFS. Insurance cover is provided to eligible members of Essential Super under policies issued to CFS.
